Nearly two years after Delta became the first of the big four U.S. airlines to offer free Wi-Fi onboard, United is preparing to do the same by partnering with internet provider Starlink. And it will roll out faster than initially expected.
United unveiled its brand-new partnership with Starlink last September, the linchpin for eventually rolling out fast-and-free internet across its entire fleet – on both mainline and regional jets. This week, United announced it will officially begin testing the new service next month, with the first free Wi-Fi service expected to be available on one of United's Embraer E-175 jets sometime this spring.
United plans to outfit its entire fleet of regional jets with Starlink Wi-Fi by the end of 2025, plus have its first mainline plane with free internet service in the air before the end of this year. While it will likely take several years to outfit all 1,000-plus planes with Starlink technology, that's significantly faster than initially expected.
United's Starlink Wi-Fi service will be free to all MileagePlus members – and its free to sign up.
Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, helps connect some of the most remote spots on earth, including over oceans and the polar regions. That makes it a perfect match for United's global network. And travelers who have used Starlink service on other airlines swear it's the fastest in the skies.
“Everything you can do on the ground, you'll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world,” United CEO Scott Kirby previously said in a previous statement.
It solves a glaring weakness for United, whose inflight Wi-Fi offerings have been widely panned as some of the worst in the industry, with slow speeds and spotty connectivity. United says its Starlink service will be speedy enough for activities like live streaming or gaming and will even allow each travelers to connect multiple devices at once.
Improving inflight Wi-Fi has been a major goal for airlines across the globe in the post-pandemic travel boom. Nowadays, travelers expect high-speed internet everywhere they go – including a metal tube 38,000 feet in the sky.
United isn't the first airline to pair up with Starlink in pursuit of that goal.
Hawaiian Airlines began offering free inflight Starlink service on select transpacific flights earlier this year. Pseudo-private airline JSX has outfitted its entire fleet with Starlink technology. And Qatar Airways is planning to change its entire fleet over to Starlink service, too.
It's just another instance where United has used a buzzy partnership and new amenities to bolster its position as a premium U.S. airline. Still, United will be two-plus years behind its primary competitor, Delta Air Lines, in the race to provide free Wi-Fi onboard.
After years of testing, Delta began rolling out free Viasat Wi-Fi for SkyMiles members across its mainline, domestic flights in early 2023. Last year, Delta expanded that same free Wi-Fi to select international flights, too, with the airline now saying its entire international network will be ready for free Wi-Fi by mid-to-late 2025 – about the same time United may begin its first, official free Wi-Fi flights.
Neither of them are the first in the U.S. to offer free Wi-Fi, though. JetBlue set that marker down more than 10 years ago … way back in 2013.
Bottom Line
United Airlines is moving up the timeline for adding free Starlink Wi-Fi to its planes, with plans to offer it on some flights beginning this spring, and outfit its entire regional fleet by the end of the 2025.
The airline will eventually add high-speed (and free) connectivity to all 1,000-plus planes in its fleet.